You can learn to DJ, cook and paint!
Spotify has added podcasts, audiobooks, and now e-learning to its list of entertainment options as it has grown from just a music listening platform. With more than 600 million users around the world, the company is always looking for new ways to keep people engaged and make more money. E-learning is a big step in the right direction because it tries to get more of users' time and resources to stay in the Spotify ecosystem.
Departing from its traditional offerings of songs, podcasts, and audiobooks, the platform will now feature video-based lessons covering a range of subjects under four categories: make music, get creative, learn business, and healthy living. This change may seem strange for a service that is mostly about music, but it's because Spotify is noticing a growing trend: people are using the service to find educational material, as shown by how popular some podcasts are. Spotify's product head, Mohit Jitani, says that this realization made the company think about adding more services. For now, though, this trial is only happening in the UK. Its long-term fate has not yet been decided.
Adding online courses is part of Spotify's plan to make its material more varied and get users more involved. Spotify plans to offer carefully chosen classes through its mobile and desktop apps by teaming up with reputable education sites such as BBC Maestro, Skillshare, Thinkific, and PlayVirtuoso. Adding courses to the current app ecosystem is a smart move that will save users time and money. Users get an easy experience without having to download anything else, and Spotify can use users' current listening habits to suggest courses that are a good fit for them.
There is a freemium approach for courses, which means that both free and premium subscribers can watch a certain number of video lessons for free. You have to pay to access the whole course, but you can't buy things inside the app because Apple and Google charge transaction fees. Instead, iOS users are sent to Spotify's web interface, while Android users can buy classes through email links. Spotify is still positive about the future of its educational services, especially when combined with its rumoured "Supremium" subscription level, which could include extra features like lossless streaming and advanced mixing tools.
Spotify's move to offer online courses in the UK shows that the company is focusing on a market where users are very active. For a company whose main business is streaming music, the move may seem like a big step, but it fits with three key areas of potential. Firstly, Spotify's growing podcasting business gives us useful data, showing that subscribers are very interested in material related to education. Spotify can cross-promote courses based on users' podcast tastes by using its recommendation algorithms. This could lead to more sales of courses. Second, Spotify continues to give creators tools to help them grow. To go along with this, educational material that aims to improve skills or business knowledge is available. Finally, Spotify's slow but steady move into video programming is a strategic move beyond its music-focused roots.
Spotify's move into online classes shows that the company wants to become a full-featured multimedia platform, even though it started out focusing on the UK market. Focusing on what users want and what's popular in the industry, Spotify wants to become not only a huge music streaming service but also a place where people can learn and grow. As the test goes on, Spotify's future will depend on how well and how easily it can expand its educational services in a world where digital content consumption is becoming more and more competitive.
